Seacoast sees surge of student homelessness

Holiday season sees spike as winter housing costs rise

PORTSMOUTH — JoAnne Simons, director of pupil instruction and support for the Portsmouth school district, said it's not uncommon for the number of homeless students to increase as the holidays approach.

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By Jeff McMenemy

seacoastonline.com

By Jeff McMenemy

Posted Nov. 17, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Jeff McMenemy
Posted Nov. 17, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — JoAnne Simons, director of pupil instruction and support for the Portsmouth school district, said it's not uncommon for the number of homeless students to increase as the holidays approach.

"What becomes an issue for our families around the holidays is things can get stressful when there's families doubling up who might be living with friends or families," said Simons, who serves as the district's homeless student liaison. "We do see movement through that time."

Simons first reported on Wednesday that the school district had 44 homeless students, but called back less than two hours later saying the number had increased to 49. She said she expects it to hit between 60 and 70 by the end of the year, as it has the past few years.

"That's what happens and how quickly things can change," Simons said. "The numbers increased because of two families we were working with this afternoon. When it does happen, it comes in waves."

Lucinda McKenney, the homeless liaison for the Dover school district, described this time of year as "eviction season for a lot of families," which results in homeless students throughout the Seacoast. "There's been a flurry of recent activities for us. We've had nine new homeless students in the last two weeks," she said. "It's a big clump all of a sudden."

The district has 36 homeless students so far this year, but McKenney said she believes it will reach 60 to 70 before the school year ends. Many families become homeless this time of year because area campgrounds are closing, they can't afford to pay both rent and heat, or landlords who are not allowed to evict families with children during the winter months, do so now, she said.

"The shelters are full already and there's waiting lists everywhere," McKenney said.

Asked about the effect on a child who becomes homeless around the holidays, McKenney said, "It's terrible, even removing the holidays from the plate. I think there's a lot of unknowns for the children. In the case of when a family is doubling up, they don't even know if they'll still be spending the night there when they get home from school."

Many children change schools when their families lose their permanent housing, which results in losing "six to eight months of education," according to McKenney, as the students deal with the loss of their home and transition to a new school.

Title VII of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act requires school districts to share in the cost of transporting students from their temporary housing to the school district they were attending when they became homeless, if their parents want. Students are considered homeless under the act if they are doubling up with other families, or are living in shelters, campgrounds or in any other type of emergency housing.

The Dover school district does not set aside money for transporting homeless students, McKenney said, but last year, it spent around $40,000 to do so.

Having control

Parents "will grab at" the chance to control where their child attends school, because they've lost some much control over other things in their lives, including where they live and how they live, McKenney said.

Patricia Ballantyne, Newmarket's director of curriculum and instruction, is also the homeless liaison for the school district. She said the number of homeless students in the district fluxuates, but starting around Nov. 1, it tends to increase.

"I got two requests today," she said. "Places like campgrounds are closing and people are losing their housing in town and end up at places like Hampton Beach that have winter rentals that are really cheap."

Newmarket, like other school districts, transports students who now live out of town to Newmarket schools. Allowing students to continue to attend schools in town gives them much-needed stability, Ballantyne said.

"In the economy we've gone through, there are no promises," Ballantyne said. "We saw a real surge when winter hit two years ago. People lost their jobs or lost housing because many families live paycheck to paycheck and some can't afford to pay rent and heat."

Disrupting little lives

Ballantyne said it's hard to overestimate the impact becoming homeless can have on a child. "It's a major disruption in their lives," she said. "Children don't understand the trauma of why they're moving and when they do, it's probably not like other kids they know where a big van shows up and moves their furniture to a new house. Often, they have to leave stuff behind or if they're going to a relative's house, they don't know how long they're going to stay."

The homeless liaisons work to make sure no one else knows when a child becomes homeless. Ballantyne said she makes sure the bus that brings out-of-town children to school does so at the same time other students arrive.

"We work really hard to make that not an event," she said.

Newmarket budgets about $10,000 each year to assist homeless students, and Ballantyne said the district has about six or seven homeless students now.

In addition to transportation, the school district has also paid for after-school tutoring if needed, along with school supplies and clothing, she said.

A 'hidden population'

Simons, of Portsmouth, said she believes most people are surprised by the number of homeless students in city schools, but high rental costs and the still-struggling economy make it tough for many families to make ends meet.

Younger children often do a better job of handling the trauma when their families become homeless, Simons said.

"They are incredibly resilient and really focused on their day-to-day activities like most first-, second- or third-graders are," she said. "As students get older, into middle school and high school, they tend to deal with more depression and anxiety. They basically feel the weight of the world on their shoulders."

Simons stressed school officials do whatever they can to support the homeless students, whether it's giving them a place to study after school, getting them counseling as needed and providing everything else a student might need.

"Through my Title I grant, we have what's called a homeless set aside of about $5,200, which we utilize to buy everything from sneakers, clothing and whatever else they need for sports," Simons said. "We also make sure kids have prom tickets and can rent tuxedoes."

School staff also work with teachers so they understand some of the challenges homeless students are facing. "The thing we talk about with teachers is that they need to consider a student's situation," Simons said. "They might have difficultly getting a school project done because they don't have the available tools or don't have access to a computer."

The liaisons in the Seacoast hold regular meetings to help address the issues faced by homeless students and how best to deal with them.

"We do work together now that we've all been doing this for a while," McKenney said. "There's been a great improvement in dealing with all the transportation issues since we stared meeting. We work on the most cost-effective way to transport students."

Area school district always welcome contributions, whether they be gift cards, clothing, and especially winter jackets as the temperatures drop.